Oak is the wood most commonly used for ready-to-finish furniture.
It is a very hard, open-grain wood that comes in red or white varieties.
Red Oak, which has a pinkish cast, is the more popular of the two.
White Oak has a slight greenish cast. Both woods stain well in any
color.

Pine is a soft wood that comes in many varieties from various
parts of the world. In the U.S., Eastern white pine, ponderosa pine
and sugar pine are some of the varieties used to make furniture. All
have yellow coloring with brown knots and are excellent for staining.
With some stains, a sealer helps prepare the wood to achieve a more
even look.

Alder is a hardwood from the Pacific Northwest. It is very
consistent in color and takes stain well. It ranks third behind oak
and pine as the wood most commonly used for ready-to-finish furniture.
Alder gives the look of many fine hardwoods at a reasonable price.

Aspen is a softer, light-colored, even-grained hardwood.
It accepts most stains well, but may need a sealer or a coat of mineral
spirits to achieve an even stain. Non-penetrating stains work best
on this wood.

Parawood from the Far East is used for much of the furniture
made in that part of the world. The wood is as hard as maple or ash
and takes a very even stain. It is yellow in color, with grain similar
to mahogany.

Maple is a hardwood which colors range from a cream to a
light reddish brown. Maple is usually straight-grained and sometimes
found with highly figured bird's-eye or burl grain. Maple is hard
and strong and has excellent resistance to abrasion and indentation.